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Karen Ball and Erin Taylor Young bring a unique blend of humor and depth to any event. Whether speaking together or individually, their focus is to serve, challenge, and encourage their audiences, helping them to embrace the deep places in their faith and life.

Topics:

Write From The Deep
God’s call to us is clear: come away with Him, let His words sink deep into us first, then take His truths to the world. This session, based on Ezekiel 2:1-3:22, will challenge writers to go deep with God in their call and their craft, for it is in the Deep that writers find refreshment, renewal, and restored passion.

Finding Your Truest VoiceWe each have one thing that sets us apart from other writers: our truest voice. But are you using that voice as a writer? Too often, it’s buried under layers of what we think we need to write. Together, we can peel back those layers and discover the truest voice—and the truest message—God has given you. These are the messages that change lives.

How to Thrive in the Writing WildernessThe wilderness seems dark and frightening, even dangerous…unless you’re trained for it. When you have the right training and tools to use, you can not only survive in the wilderness, but you can find wonder and beauty there. So get ready…your training starts now.

How to Hear, Speak, and Write TruthThe Truth is out there…but too often we’re so distracted by circumstances or struggles that we can’t see or hear it, let alone write it. And yet it’s what this world needs most. Come explore tips and best practices for shutting out the chaos and focusing on the true Source of every word we write.

Kick Discouragement to the Curb
If God called me to write, why is it so hard? Why was that last edit so humiliating? Why did I get rejected…again? Questions like these bombard us in our discouragement, yet they also reveal a secret we can use to defeat discouragement and find peace in submitting to God.

Help Me, I Need an Agent! (and Help Me, I Have an Agent!)
Agent Karen Ball and client Erin Taylor Young will lead a frank discussion about the author/client relationship—how to find each other, how to effectively work together, how the age of indie publishing affects authors and clients, and what to do when things go wrong.

Karen’s Additional Topics

Taming Fiction Dragons
They’re there, ready to pounce…those darned dragons that weaken your writing and stories, putting up speed bumps for your readers. In this session, which can be one workshop or an ongoing series of workshops, we’ll use discussion and hands-on exercises to defeat the dragons of POV, Show vs Tell, Voice, and more to banish them from our pages forever.

Life is a Journey, Don’t Miss the Ride
You’ve heard it before: What’s your goal in life? Not that goals are bad, but what happens too often is that we get so focused on the destination we completely miss the jewels of the journey. With a combination of wit and depth, Karen helps listeners learn how to not just endure, but to enjoy and savor the journey.

Your Truest Voice
Do you know your real voice as a writer? Or do you just think you do? In this interactive session, we’ll peel back the layers of who we are as individuals to unearth the the source of the stories planted inside us, and the heart of what we have to say and how we say it. In the end, you’ll discover the most important asset you have as a writer: your truest voice and message.

Did God Just Blink
What do you do when you find yourself in places you never expected? Never wanted. When—even after doing everything you could to live according to God’s laws—life goes crazy? We’ve all been there. And we’ve all wondered: ”Did God just blink?” Using her signature humor and transparency, Karen draws listeners into a frank exploration of the unexpected turns we face in life.

Erin’s Additional Topics

Humor How-To’sYou want to liven up your writing by adding humor, but everyone says you’re as funny as tar paper. And maybe you are. But we can change that. In this workshop, you’ll learn what humor is really all about, and how to write it with confidence.

Dialogue Dos and Don’tsWe talk all the time, so what’s so hard about writing dialogue? Plenty. Learn three secrets to writing effective dialogue and three things you should never, ever do.

The Secrets of a Great Nonfiction Book Proposal
Does the thought of writing a book proposal overwhelm you? Do you wonder what a “Competition” section is, and why it would need to be in your proposal? In this workshop, learn why proposals are more than just busywork, and how you can use each component to make editors and agents drool.

Write FreshWe want our readers to not only love our story, but to love every word along the way. In this workshop, learn to add humor, vivid descriptions, dialogue that doesn’t dead end, symbolism, and metaphors to engage your readers word by word.

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How to subscribe on an iPhone or iPad:

If you’re on iOS 11 and have Siri enabled, it couldn’t be easier! Just ask Siri to subscribe you to the Write from the Deep podcast. She’ll confirm it with you and you’re done!

Or you can:

1. If it isn’t already installed, install the “Podcasts” app (or any podcast app you choose)
2. Open Podcasts app and search for “Write from the Deep”
3. Tap “Subscribe”
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For Android:

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1. Install the “BeyondPod” app (or any podcast app you choose)
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Stuff You Should Know

The links to books we mention are affiliate links. That means we'd get a teensy percentage of the pie if you choose to click through and make a purchase. That's not why we linked to these books. We'd need a ton of people buying a ton of books for any real-size piece of pie.

We simply posted books we believe in. Books we thought you'd have an interest in, and to make it easy, we provided links.

Featured photos of Erin and Karen on the Home, Speaking, Services, About, and Resources pages are by Angela Hunt Photography. Banner photos are by Erin and Karen.